The Qi Refining Stage is the dividing line between mortals and cultivators.
Before the 3rd level of Lianqi, the difference between a cultivator and a mortal isn't that great. At most, they have a bit more strength, better endurance and stamina recovery, and are less prone to illness.
This is because at this stage, the cultivator's Dantian Sea has just been opened, their Spiritual Power reserves are insufficient, and they cannot actively control the Spiritual Energy within their bodies.
They rely on the passive nourishment of their bodies by the Spiritual Energy within.
But things are different once they reach the 3rd level of Lianqi.
Reaching this stage means the Dantian Sea has fully formed, and a certain amount of Spiritual Energy has accumulated within the body.
At the same time, they can now channel their internal Spiritual Energy to cast some simple, minor spells.
And it was precisely such a minor spell that Gu Xiu needed!
At this moment, Gu Xiu sat cross-legged with the Green Bamboo Rod placed horizontally before him. He formed a hand seal, and the Spiritual Power in his body began to circulate along his meridians.
An instant later, Gu Xiu opened his eyes, a brown light flashing within them.
"Vine Manipulation!"
With a low whisper, Gu Xiu continued forming a seal with his left hand, while his right hand, with two fingers pressed together, touched the Green Bamboo Rod.
A strange scene unfolded in an instant.
The previously still and silent Green Bamboo Rod began to tremble violently the moment Gu Xiu's two fingers touched it.
Streaks of the power of laws continuously circulated, frantically resisting Gu Xiu's spell.
This was the Vine Manipulation Technique, a wood-element spell. When used, it could simply control ordinary plants, but the speed was slow and the degree of control was extremely limited.
It was considered a very common and not particularly useful spell that people rarely used.
And now, after casting the Vine Manipulation Technique with his right hand, Gu Xiu immediately formed another hand seal with his left.
"Spirit Thread!"
In an instant, a thread of Spiritual Energy slowly appeared above Gu Xiu's left hand.
He didn't hesitate. Working with both hands, he used his right to continuously control the Green Bamboo Rod while his left began to wrap the Spirit Thread around it.
Each wrap had a specific position.
But the Green Bamboo Rod wouldn't just foolishly wait to be controlled. In fact, the power of the laws on its surface flickered continuously as it struggled.
It snapped the Spirit Thread time and time again.
Gu Xiu, however, was not in a hurry. Every time the Spirit Thread broke, he would immediately start over, entering a tug-of-war with the Green Bamboo Rod.
Finally, just as Gu Xiu's internal Spiritual Energy was nearly depleted, the Spirit Thread at last managed to wrap all the way to the end of the Green Bamboo Rod.
"Now!"
Gu Xiu no longer hesitated. His right hand, which was casting the Vine Manipulation Technique, suddenly flicked a finger just as the Green Bamboo Rod was about to break free.
A drop of his essence blood fell upon the rod, seven inches from the end.
In an instant, the Green Bamboo Rod's struggles began to weaken. A moment later, it became docile once more.
Success!
Blood Recognition, transforming the rod into a fishing pole!
The Spirit Thread, which had previously required a constant supply of Gu Xiu's Spiritual Power, now seemed to have become a part of the Green Bamboo Rod. Even when Gu Xiu released his hand seals, the Spirit Thread remained wrapped around it, becoming the fishing line.
The Green Bamboo Rod had now become a green bamboo fishing pole.
Picking up the green bamboo fishing pole to examine it, Gu Xiu found that it still looked just as plain, but holding it gave him a profound and indescribable feeling.
"Heavenly Fishing, is it?"
"Let me give it a try!"
Gu Xiu muttered to himself, then flicked the fishing pole. The line immediately dropped, its end vanishing into thin air.
At first glance, it looked as if Gu Xiu was sitting in a cave, fishing in empty space.
As he waited, Gu Xiu mumbled, "I wonder if this is the right way to do it. And does this green bamboo fishing pole need any bait?"
Gu Xiu had seen how to use this green bamboo fishing pole as a bystander in an Illusory Realm.
In that Illusory Realm, a thousand years after Jiang Xun had taken the Green Bamboo Rod from him, he had accidentally discovered the correct way to use it.
Gu Xiu wasn't entirely sure if it was correct.
Fortunately, just as he was feeling uneasy, the green bamboo fishing pole suddenly dipped. The sensation was similar to a fish biting the hook and pulling on the line.
Gu Xiu's eyes lit up, and he lifted the fishing pole.
Heh, who would have thought. He couldn't lift it!
An immense force came from the other end of the line, as if a huge fish was struggling. Gu Xiu pulled a few times, but to little effect.
"The most important thing in fishing is patience. It's a game of wits against the big fish!"
Gu Xiu recited this to himself and stopped being anxious. Instead, he began a tug-of-war with the "fish." When it pulled hard, he would relax a little; when it relaxed, he would pull hard.
And so it went.
In the blink of an eye, half an hour passed. After such a long struggle, the "fish" on the other end was clearly exhausted.
Just as his opponent finished a bout of struggling, Gu Xiu saw his chance!
"Now!"
Gu Xiu yanked the pole with all his might. Faintly, he could even hear a roar that seemed to come from an ancient god.
However, as the fishing pole was fully lifted...
The roar was instantly cut off. Gu Xiu looked at the end of the fishing line.
There, hanging from it, was an ancient book with a black cover.
"A cultivation manual?"
Gu Xiu's eyes lit up. The Wukui Ancient Book in his Dantian Sea needed all sorts of cultivation manuals and secret arts right now!
Without hesitation, Gu Xiu took the manual in his hand. But after a closer look, he was suddenly stunned.
Because on the black cover, there were only two large characters: Heavenly Talisman Script!
"Is this... real or fake?"
"It's actually this celestial book? Didn't it disappear, lost to the world, ten thousand years ago?"
Gu Xiu found it incredible.
The Talisman Dao.
It was one of the Six Paths of the cultivation world.
A Talisman Master could create talismans with a stroke of a brush, and each type of spiritual talisman had its own wondrous use.
In the cultivation world, Talisman Masters were highly respected because the talismans they created could not only be used by themselves but also by ordinary cultivators for protection and support.
Their uses were endless!
A powerful Talisman Master could be called Talisman Master. It was said that a top-tier Grandmaster could inscribe the power of a Supreme within a tiny space.
A single talisman could slaughter a city, or destroy a nation!
Gu Xiu's former Fifth Senior Sister, Qin Moran, was a powerful Talisman Master.
Five hundred years ago, Qin Moran and Gu Xiu had been very close. She had told him many things about the Talisman Dao back then.
Among them was a saying about the Talisman Dao:
"He who obtains the Heavenly Talisman Script can become the Supreme of the Talisman Dao!"
This was because, according to legend, the Heavenly Talisman Script was a manifestation of the Great Dao itself. It recorded the true essence of the Talisman Dao and contained all the talisman patterns in the world.
Throughout history, the Heavenly Talisman Script had been the cause of world-shaking conflicts and slaughter.
It was just a pity that after the Talisman Dao Supreme named Xu Mozi Ascended to Immortality ten thousand years ago, the Heavenly Talisman Script had vanished without a trace.
Some rumors said he took it with him to the Immortal Realm. Others claimed he had hidden it away behind a restrictive seal.
But regardless of the rumors, the Heavenly Talisman Script had indeed vanished, and for ten thousand years, no new Talisman Dao Supreme had appeared.
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Back when she spoke of this, Qin Moran had been full of self-pity.
At the time, Gu Xiu had even promised that he would spend his entire life doing everything in his power to help Qin Moran find the Heavenly Talisman Script.
He never would have thought that now, after leaving the sect, signing the Abandon Sect Covenant, and completely severing all ties with the sect—and by extension, all vows related to it...
He would be the one to obtain this celestial book.
"Qin Moran, it seems you are not fated to have this book in this lifetime." Gu Xiu shook his head and began to flip through the Heavenly Talisman Script.
As he read, Gu Xiu couldn't help but be astonished.
This Heavenly Talisman Script was powerful.
But it was also incredibly complex.
The book didn't just teach one how to draw talismans; it analyzed the very fundamentals of the Talisman Dao from its roots.
It began with the origin of heaven, earth, and all creation.
The content was so obscure and difficult to understand that it was breathtaking. To fully comprehend and apply it would likely take an immense amount of time.
"No wonder that throughout history, those who obtained the Heavenly Talisman Script took at least several hundred years to achieve anything significant. Just comprehending the contents of this book alone must require a vast amount of time."
Gu Xiu sighed, feeling it was a bit of a shame.
In his current situation, he needed to cultivate as quickly as possible. His lifespan was limited, and only by advancing and breaking through could he extend it.
He couldn't afford to spend a large amount of time studying the Talisman Dao.
Just as he was feeling regretful, Gu Xiu suddenly had an idea:
"My Wukui Ancient Book... I wonder if I can write this Heavenly Talisman Script into it?"
Gu Xiu had already witnessed how powerful the ancient book in his Dantian Sea was. As long as he wrote a cultivation technique into it, not only would the technique be enhanced, but his comprehension of it would also be accelerated.
If he wrote the Heavenly Talisman Script into it, even if the book itself wasn't further refined or enhanced, just shortening the time needed for comprehension would be fantastic, wouldn't it?
No sooner said than done.
Gu Xiu immediately took action. He looked inward at his Dantian Sea, turned a page of the Wukui Ancient Book, and began to write with his consciousness.
Gu Xiu's thinking was simple. Whether it worked or not, he had to at least try.
But... what Gu Xiu didn't know was that as he transcribed the Heavenly Talisman Script, character by character, sentence by sentence, onto the pages of the Wukui Ancient Book...
Outside, a world-shaking, cataclysmic change was taking place...
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